Landlord from HELL

Pisco Sour · 08-02-2011 3:05pm #1

I am living in Melbourne at the moment and in late december signed a 3 month lease which could then be extended after. The place is a dump and the 2 landlords are get rich quick chancers and I complained about a good few things but I was prepared to let a lot go as I liked the location and got quite settled here.

So everything was going fine until last friday when flash floods hit Melbourne and surprise surprise my room got drenched. The rain pelted through the dogey roof while I was at work soaking my carpet and bed. Thankfully my housemates kindly moved all my stuff so none of my valuables got destroyed.

I informed them about this and they sent somebody around to fix the roof.

However nothing was done about the wet carpet which was very quickly beginning to smell like mould was forming underneath it.

So I suggested yesterday morning to them that they take up the carpet, wash and dry it properly, and remove all mould underneath the carpet and if needs be replace the carpet as mould is a health hazzard especially to somebody who suffers from asthma and alergies like myself.

The following is the dialogue I had with the landlord. This is quite shocking: Just a quick background, the owner he refers to are the guys who own the property and rent it to these chancers who then act as landlords and let it on to us:

Hi, one of the guys who came over yesterday (to fix the roof) was the owner and said to leave it 4 a few days to see if it dries naturally

I have lost the message I replied back but it was something along the lines of it not just being an inconvenience but also a health hazard with all the mould growing especially to somebody with asthma like myself.

I have a room at **** ***** . You can stay there until the room is dry again.

That doesn’t solve the problem of mould growing. What causes the mould is the underlying concrete or wood beneath the carpet staying wet long after the carpet has dried. If the underlay is not dried you will end up with mould, bacteria and odour problems. This is not something that should be taken lightly.

The owner wants the room left 4 a few days. If the problems persist then we’ll deal with them.

The owner hasn’t a clue quite frankly. That room will be hard to rent in the future if something isn’t done. I am not paying the owner 695 for this room, I am paying YOU 695 for this room so I expect u to fix this problem otherwise I expect a significant reduction in the rent.

If the full rent is not paid on time you will be given an eviction notice (illegal by the way as this cant be done unless a tenant is 14 days in arrears). Give the carpet a few days to dry and if problems persist I will deal with them. I have a PHD in microbiology so there is no need to lecture me on mould and bacteria.

If that’s the case then you should know the health risks. I’d be pretty certain this would be illegal under landlord and tenant law but I’m sure neither of us want to go down that road.

Then this morning I went into Consumer Affairs Victoria to find out my rights and they said that the mould would be be kind of in between Urgent Repairs and Non Urgent Repairs and she told me to fill out a non urgent repair form and hand it to them giving them 14 days to make necessary repairs. They also said that my deposit (bond) should have been lodged with Consumer Affairs Victoria, something which they obviously didn't do.

So here is this mornings dialogue with the landlord:

I have spoken with Consumer Affairs Victoria and will be presenting you with a written request to have my room properly repaired. I would also like a receipt stating that my bond has been lodged with Consumer Affairs Victoria. Thank you.

Just to let you know that your contract will not be renewed after 27/3. I will be happy to lodge your bond with RTBA however the process will take 2 weeks to lodge and approximately 3 weeks to refund so you will receive your bond back well after your eviction. Please let me know if you would like me to proceed. As mentioned earlier, the room will be attended to if it has not dried in the next few days.

Reasons your landlord can ask you to vacate but not before the tenancy agreement ends: 120 days notice for no specified reason, but not just because you, as the tenant have been exercising your rights or saying you will do so. 60 days notice if it is at the end of a fixed term tenancy agreement of fewer than 6 months. The laws are there for a reason. Also it is not just the wet carpet I have problems with but primarily the mould which is being let grow in my room while you leave the carpet to dry naturally.

You have signed a contract with us that allows us to give u 28 days notice if we require u to vacate prior to the end of the lease. I was being nice and left it until 27/3. As it stands I am now giving u 28 days notice to vacate which means you will need to be out by 8/3.

Tomorrow I plan to go into Consumer Affairs Victoria to show them my lease and this dialogue and see if what they are doing is legal, which I suspect probably isn't. I have genuinely never been so furious in my life. I don't particularly want to live here anymore now but I refuse to let them feel like they have won and am going to be the biggest pain in the ass I can be and keep stating my rights. They basically are kicking me out because I wont accept the crap they provide me and they know I am not worth the hassle so they would rather find some strapped for cash backpacker who would accept any oul crap to replace me.

The room absolutely stinks at this stage, 5 days on from the flood. Not a sign of the carept drying also!

AnonoBoy · 08-02-2011 3:13pm

Maybe the mould is full of good bacteria and could help your digestive tract.

He's probably just looking out for the health of your insides.

My advice?

Eat the mould.